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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

13th Annual Downtown Dunedin Craft Festival (Tampa Bay Area, Fl.)

June 27th & 28th, 2015

Saturday & Sunday 10 AM - 4 PM

Main Street in Downtown Dunedin

If Tampa is on your travel agenda this June, you can’t miss out on this terrific craft event in the city’s most desirable suburb of Dunedin. It is here, a short drive from Tampa, along Dunedin’s Main Street, you will meet some of the country’s finest crafters with products all handmade in the U.S.A. Botanical hotplates, ceramic planters, functional pottery, hair accessories, handmade one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces and an expansive Green Market offers something for every taste & budget.Free Admission

Directions:I-275 to exit 39 (Clearwater/Tampa Airport Exit), take Highway 60 (Gulf to Bay Blvd.) to US 19. Go North to State Road 580. West on 580 to Alternate 19, left on Alternate 19 to Main Street.

That's the message Dunedin Fine Art Center leaders are delivering as they embark on a major expansion project. They are looking to remodel and add on to the single-story DFAC building in Highlander Park and are opening a "Cottage Campus" on the city-owned Weaver Park property.

The center continues to attract patrons from around Pinellas and neighboring counties, Ken Hannon, DFAC associate executive director of communication, said. The center's classes and programs, taught by professional artists, are affordable, so it is always pressed for class space, he said.

DFAC officials plan to use every inch of the Highlander Park campus and two offsite locations: on Broadway at the remodeled Stirling Hall, on Broadway; and the waterfront Weaver Park, which is on Bayshore Boulevard.

Over the next year, the DFAC building, at 1143 Michigan Blvd., will be expanded from 18,813 square feet to 23,286 square feet. The $1.5 million project will see almost 3,000 square feet of the existing building totally rebuilt and 4,473-square feet added.

As part of the remodeling, clay studios and a kiln room will be added to the center's southern and eastern section. In addition, there will be a children's clay lab built and dedicated to the late Sandy Collman, a DFAC supporter.

A bequest from another late patron, Oskar Elbert, will be used to equip a darkroom.

A gift of $1 million from the Louis and Valerie Flack estate will help DFAC construct a youth education wing.

The youth wing will include a multipurpose studio that will be used for art classes or performances, according to Todd Still, youth education director. In addition, a gallery for artwork created by youngsters will be built.

The art center will remain in operation during the first phase of the remodeling project, which is already under way.

During the second phase, scheduled to begin in 2014, another seven art studios and two galleries will be added to the center, along with an industrial arts studio. In addition, the second phase will see 7,514 square feet added to the first floor and the construction of an 8,734-square-foot second story.

Even during the recession, participation in DFAC classes is increasing, Hannon said.

More parents are realizing that the arts play an important part in education, teaching youngsters to think outside the box and nurturing their creativity, he said.

In addition, more baby boomers are retiring and other adults are looking for more ways to spend their free time, Hannon said. At a time when people are looking for value, the center is keeping its fees affordable.

The DFAC will continue to utilize rented studio space for classes in the remodeled Stirling Hall, which is in the city's downtown dining and retail district.

The center will also begin using a vacant cottage on the Weaver property for studio space. The center recently began leasing the cottage, built in 1921, from the city.

"It's a win-win proposition," George Ann Bissett, DFAC's executive director, said in an e-mail of the Cottage Campus. "This is just an incredible location for our students and for the community."

The Kiwanis Club of Dunedin has been helping the arts center get the cottage ready for use.

The Cottage Campus will house the center's print studio, stone carving and wood turning, plein air drawing and painting programs.

"It's just such a wonderful location for the drawing from nature that happens in plein air classes," said Catherine Bergmann, DFAC's director of adult education. "Actually, everyone is pretty thrilled to be here right across from the water."